Life Wisdom - By Words of Taoism
Oct 21, 2026 · 22 min · 10 segments
Change can happen in a relationship, by a road that starts on our own side of it. **More resources:** - Free resources, books and more on…
Chen LiHost
Zhuangzi describes that wish through the fate of a seabird, which, blown inland by a storm, came down one day outside the walls of the capital of Lu.
Nobody in the city had ever seen such a bird, and the Marquis of Lu, taking it for a sign from heaven, decided to receive it as an honored guest.
He had it carried into the ancestral temple, the most sacred room of his state, where his musicians played the Nine Shao, the solemn music reserved for the great ceremonies of the ancient kings.
Platters of beef, mutton, and pork from the sacrificial offerings were laid before it, along with cups of the finest wine, as for a visiting prince.
Courtiers came to admire it, drums and bells sounded around it from morning to night, and the incense of the temple hung heavy in the air.
The bird stared around in terror, refused every morsel and every drop, and by the end of the third day it had died of fear and hunger in the middle of all that splendor.
The Marquis fed the bird with what would have nourished himself when it needed what nourishes a bird.
He offered the best of everything he knew, and he must have stood in that temple bewildered, watching a creature turn away from gifts any man of Lu would have wept to receive.
From the inside, those efforts feel like generosity because we are holding out our own idea of a good life, better health, a calmer temper, a kinder partner, a more sensible career.
When the gift is refused, the bewilderment comes, followed by a little wounded pride, and the sigh grows heavier with each refusal.
Zhuangzi describes that wish through the fate of a seabird, which, blown inland by a storm, came down one day outside the walls of the capital of Lu.
Nobody in the city had ever seen such a bird, and the Marquis of Lu, taking it for a sign from heaven, decided to receive it as an honored guest.
He had it carried into the ancestral temple, the most sacred room of his state, where his musicians played the Nine Shao, the solemn music reserved for the great ceremonies of the ancient kings.
Platters of beef, mutton, and pork from the sacrificial offerings were laid before it, along with cups of the finest wine, as for a visiting prince.
Courtiers came to admire it, drums and bells sounded around it from morning to night, and the incense of the temple hung heavy in the air.
The bird stared around in terror, refused every morsel and every drop, and by the end of the third day it had died of fear and hunger in the middle of all that splendor.
The Marquis fed the bird with what would have nourished himself when it needed what nourishes a bird.
He offered the best of everything he knew, and he must have stood in that temple bewildered, watching a creature turn away from gifts any man of Lu would have wept to receive.
From the inside, those efforts feel like generosity because we are holding out our own idea of a good life, better health, a calmer temper, a kinder partner, a more sensible career.
When the gift is refused, the bewilderment comes, followed by a little wounded pride, and the sigh grows heavier with each refusal.
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